


Sanctuary

by ThePrion



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Harley Quinn (2017), Harley Quinn (Cartoon 2019), Harley Quinn (Comics), Poison Ivy (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Depression, Established Relationship, F/F, Heroes in Crisis Fix-It (DCU), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Mental Health Issues, Mildly Dubious Consent, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Reformed Harleen Quinzel, Relationship Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:27:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28345368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrion/pseuds/ThePrion
Summary: Poison Ivy has been struggling with the 'reformed supervillain' lifestyle. Her girlfriend, Harley Quinn, is struggling to cope with Ivy's worsening mental health.A fix-it of Heroes in Crisis that explores how Ivy ended up going to Sanctuary for help.
Relationships: Harley Quinn/Poison Ivy, Pamela Isley & Harleen Quinzel, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn
Comments: 1
Kudos: 58





	Sanctuary

* * *

It had been around a year since their most recent escape from Arkham Asylum when Harley first began noticing a shift in Ivy’s behaviour. The moment that their feet touched free soil, the pair had sworn that they would never return to a life of crime. Not the frowned upon kind, at least. They would instead become vigilantes; ‘reformed’ supervillains, as the Justice League losers coined it. Regardless, Harley and Ivy would do whatever it took to never end up rotting in Arkham ever again.

They sought out abusers, bigots, crooks and corrupt businessmen to teach them a lesson in the most humane way their ex-villainous minds could muster. They no longer killed - a decision Batman himself would be proud of - and it was enough to keep them content. 

For a while, at least. 

The changes were small to begin with. Ivy gradually began showing less interest in their ‘vigilante’ business. Whenever Harley finally convinced her girlfriend to take to the streets again, Ivy showed less restraint. She’d beat their perpetrator for a little too long; swear at them, taunt them and mock them. It made Harley weak at the knees to begin with, but when the anger persisted, her dumbfounded arousal turned to anxiety. 

Harley knew that something was wrong. Considering the train-wreck that was her romantic history, Harley’s immediate concern was that Ivy wasn’t happy with their relationship anymore. They had lived together for 12 happy, uninterrupted months - so perhaps Ivy was finally getting sick of her, like everybody else eventually had? And whenever Harley tried to inquire whether Ivy was alright, she was met with a brisk _‘fine’_ and a swiftly changed subject.

As Ivy’s lust for serving justice simpered, Harley found herself growing increasingly bored with less and less to occupy her frantic mind. This, in turn, gave her more time to dwell on the strange atmosphere emerging in her home. She battled her thoughts night and day, convincing herself that Ivy still loved her despite her recent uncharacteristic standoffishness. 

_‘At least we’re still having sex’,_ Harley thought, ‘ _mind-blowing, pillow-biting, orgasmic sex.’_

Until they weren’t. Until the only sex they ever had was far from satisfactory, with Ivy seeming distant and distracted, putting Harley in the right mind to push her girlfriend away and tell her she would finish herself off. But she never did, she still craved whatever intimacy she could get. 

With Ivy becoming increasingly disinterested in both their work and their relationship, Harley’s mind plummeted to dark places and opened unhealed wounds. She kept a brave face around Ivy - smiling over dinner and cuddling up to her during movies - but beneath the facade she crumbled a little more every time she didn’t receive the approval and love she needed. 

Every day, Ivy’s dismissive behaviour reminded Harley more and more of Mr J. It was a thought that terrified her and she frequently found herself standing in the bathroom at ungodly hours, shivering beneath a sheen of cold sweat after yet another taunting nightmare. 

_‘She’s not like Mr J’,_ Harley would chant, ‘ _Ivy loves me, she cares about me, she would never hurt me. There’s just something really, really wrong with her.’_

Then, every night, Harley would slide back into bed besides Ivy and watch her sleeping girlfriend. She’d memorise how peaceful and content she looked in her sleep, and send herself back through time to memories of happier days. She remembered when they used to go on spontaneous dates, laugh together and wreak havoc together - back when Ivy was passionate about life and passionate about her. But Ivy was different now, and Harley couldn’t work out why. 

The final straw occurred once Ivy began spending more and more time alone in her laboratory, seemingly preferring plant company above that of her own girlfriend. Harley found herself taking to the streets alone, tracking down crooks and even occasionally helping out Bat-brains to pass the time and keep herself distracted from her crumbling domestic situation. 

Then, one fateful evening, she returned from teaching a scummy so-and-so a lesson or two to find Ivy in the lab again. The botanist was thoughtfully admiring a delicate white flower and grinding something in her pestle and mortar. Ivy’s hair was unkempt and unruly but Harley couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she was. 

Tentatively, she approached. 

“What’cha got there, Daffodil?” 

Ivy was already aware of Harley’s presence and calmly turned to look at her. She noticed the blood splatters across Harley’s cheeks and the bruises on her knuckles but chose to say nothing on the topic. She knew her girlfriend was going out without her, and she didn’t blame her one bit. 

“This is the Datura plant” Ivy grinned. 

_‘Grinned!’_ Thought Harley, ‘ _She’s actually smiling! Maybe she’s in a good mood today? Maybe she’s better?’_

Testing her luck, Harley placed her baseball bat on a counter and slowly approached Ivy, gently wrapping her arms around the taller woman’s waist. She propped her chin on her girlfriend’s shoulder and looked down into the curious mortar of crushed seeds. Surprisingly, Ivy didn’t flinch nor shy away from the touch. Harley even thought she felt Ivy press herself back against her embrace, but perhaps she imagined it from sheer ecstatic delirium. 

“But don’t be fooled by this plant’s beauty, pretty girl. It's incredibly poisonous. Its seeds have the ability to cause intense delusions and severe physical illness when ingested. Some idiots drink the seeds as tea to experience the plant's psychoactive properties, but the dose required to trip is dangerously close to the fatal dose.” 

Harley swallowed thickly. The joyous tone in which Ivy explained the dangers of the plant froze her blood and caused her heart to hammer against her ribcage. Had Ivy gone completely mad? Was _she_ trying to trip on this stupid plant? Was she finally going to try and kill Harley? 

“An’ whadda ya messin’ with that for?” Harley asked, managing to hide the nervous waver in her voice. 

Ivy tipped the crushed seeds into a pot of steaming water, instructing a nearby vine to stir the liquid with a languid twirl of her finger before pouring the murky water into a teacup for her.

“You’ll see. You’re going to _love_ this” 

Ivy turned in Harley’s stiff arms, cupping her bloodied cheeks and pressing an excited kiss to her lips that left Harley bewildered and confused. She simply stood and watched as Ivy stepped away, seized the cup and paraded towards another room. 

Eventually willing her legs to move, Harley cautiously followed. Ivy stepped into a small, dark room and flicked on the glaring heat lamps. Suddenly, the face of a bound, sweating and confused man was lit up. He struggled against the vines tying his extremities and shouted muffled pleas into the rag balled in his mouth. 

Harley was in shock. Sure, she saw things like this all the time - _did_ things like this all the time. But she wasn’t exactly expecting to find a gagged and bound man in their home, especially not whilst Ivy was acting so downright strange. She stood unmoving in the doorway, watching as Ivy approached the man and pulled the saliva-stained rag from his mouth.

He shouted and begged for a while, his meaty face growing redder and redder with panic. Ivy pursed her lips and waited patiently for him to finish. 

“You see, Harls. I’ve been after this man for a very, _very_ long time. Mr Blackburn here is in charge of a variety of illegal logging operations across the globe. He’s single handedly responsible for millions of acres of deforestation, the deaths of thousands of animals and the suffering of hundreds of local communities. And now it’s my time to make him suffer, just like the green has suffered.” 

Ivy was practically snarling come the end of her little speech. Harley was no longer used to seeing her girlfriend like this - she hadn’t seen the twisted, dark side of Ivy for years. Not since they were at the peak of their villaincy. Somehow, despite its distant familiarity, this side of Ivy scared her. She was too afraid to respond to Ivy’s explanation and instead found herself leaning against the doorframe for support - her morbidly curious eyes glued to the twisted scene unravelling before her. 

Ivy’s demeanour changed. She smiled down at Mr Blackburn and raised the warm cup in her hands. “But I’m not done making him suffer just yet. I need you to keep up your strength, Mr Blackburn, so that I can keep having my fun with you. Maybe if you’re a _good boy_ and endure everything I have planned for you, I’ll let you go. So, here. Drink this tea. Hydration is very important.” 

Shakily, Mr Blackburn looked down at the mug. There was distrust in his eyes, but the scratchy thirst in his throat soon caused his suspicion to dwindle. He nodded. Ivy raised the cup to his lips and encouraged the thirsty man to drink. He eagerly gulped down half of the cup before his eyes bulged in realisation that the tea didn’t taste right at all. He groaned and spluttered, but Ivy did not stop pouring the liquid into his mouth. A portion of the remaining psychedelic tea splashed down his messy business suit but some still found its way down his throat. Ivy smirked wickedly and stood up. 

“Idiot. I’ll be back for you in an hour. Enjoy your trip.” 

Ivy turned on her heels and headed for the exit, taking a shocked Harley by the hand and guiding her from the room. 

“Oh, he’s never going to be the same again! That shit’s going to screw him up for life, if it doesn’t just kill him first! Isn’t it exciting?” Ivy laughed, spinning a stunned Harley around and hoisting her up to sit on her messy desk. The blonde was still too shocked to react as Ivy’s lips made their way up her neck and to her mouth, her exhilarated hands reaching for Harley’s waist and thighs. 

When Harley’s mind finally caught up with the situation, she broke the kiss and forcefully pushed Ivy away. The shock and disgust in her girlfriend’s eyes surprised Ivy, who stumbled backwards when Harley rushed off of the desk and hurried past her. 

“No- no this ain’t exciting!” Harley exclaimed, pausing to look back at her girlfriend, “This ain’t what we do no more. I dunno who you’re becomin’, Red, but I don’ like it.”

And with that, Harley stormed from Ivy’s lab and down to their room where she locked herself away and tearily fell into the furry embrace of her hyenas, Bud and Lou. 

Watching Mr Blackburn slip into a painful delirium wasn’t as fun without Harley by her side. Ivy had envisioned them laughing and joking about the way the fat pig squirmed and begged for mercy, like she would have done in the past. Instead, Ivy sat cross legged in front of the crazed man as he babbled mindlessly about whatever insane hallucinations his mind was concocting. She could tell that he was struggling to breathe and figured that it wouldn’t be long before cardiac arrest put him out of his misery. 

Ivy had no idea how long she had been watching Mr Blackburn lose his mind, but judging by the severity of his symptoms, it had been quite a while since she locked herself in here following her argument with Harley. She’d hoped that watching him beg and struggle would distract her, but instead, Ivy hadn’t been able to think about anything besides the hurt in her girlfriend’s eyes. 

Ivy had been terrible to Harley. She didn’t deserve the sweet girl’s love. Even if she was struggling, even if she’d become more depressed than she’d ever admit aloud, Ivy could never justify hurting Harley. 

“ _T-three eyed cat, no! Stay away from me, you beast! Excalibur! F-face your fears!”_ Babbled Mr Blackburn nonsensically. 

Ivy looked up from her sulky position and hummed thoughtfully. 

“Yeah, you’re right, I just need to face my fears and confront her about this… tell her the truth. I owe her at least the truth.” 

Ivy got to her feet and passed the bound man, who continued rocking back and forth and muttering nonsense about cat monsters and the legend of Avalon. Ivy left the room quietly, looking around her laboratory to locate Harley who was nowhere to be seen. She shrugged off her lab coat and headed downstairs, tiptoeing through the apartment without any success in finding her scorned lover. Eventually, Ivy found herself standing on the other side of their bedroom door, listening to Harley’s soft whimpers and sniffles. She closed her eyes and let out a shaky sigh, terrified of the conversation she knew was unavoidable. 

Mustering up her courage, Ivy quietly opened the door and stepped into the dimly lit room, greeted by the protective snarls of Bud and Lou. Harley, lying in the center of the bed with the hyenas at her feet, didn’t budge. Ivy stepped across the room and carefully perched besides Harley, looking hopefully at the back of her girlfriend's head. When Harley continued to refuse to acknowledge her, Ivy sighed and fiddled with the fuzzy bed sheets that Harley loved so much. 

“Harls, I…” Ivy really didn’t know how to continue. It was entirely against her instinct to talk about her struggles and she felt a physical knot tighten in her throat. She had learned her lesson for being vulnerable many times before. But this was Harley, her girlfriend, her best friend. If there was anybody she could open up to, it was her. 

“Harley, I know you’re listening. I’ve been terrible. I’ve been a complete asshole to you and… I’m sorry. The truth is, I’m not alright. I’ve been struggling more than ever and I should have told you so much sooner instead of letting things get this bad. You see… I-” 

Ivy swallowed thickly and closed her eyes. She knew her confession could tear a rift in their relationship but she had to face her fears.

“-I miss our old life. I miss being wild and limitless and having no stupid rules to follow. I’m not cut out for this ‘reformed supervillain’ crap. I simply don’t have sympathy or remorse for people who have done wrong. I’m still thirsty for vengeance. I’m sorry you had to see me that way today. I suppose I cracked and tried to make everything like it was before. But the truth is, Harley, I need help. I know we can’t go back to the way we were before. I know this life makes you happy and all I want is to make you happy, but I stopped doing that a long time ago. I understand if what I’ve done is irreparable but if you’ll give me a chance, I’ll do anything to make you happy again…” 

The silence that followed was long, but Ivy already felt the relief of the confession melt through her and soften her tense muscles. Harley, on the other hand, slowly took the new information in. She was touched by Ivy’s honesty but feared for the struggles she was facing. It unsettled her to know that her girlfriend was still so thirsty for blood.

At last, Harley rolled over to face Ivy. She slowly sat up and held her girlfriend’s worried gaze, desperate to find the right words to break the tension with. 

But the words never came. Instead, Harley scrambled forward on her knees and wrapped her arms tightly around her girlfriend, burying her head in her mussy red locks and conveying all of her love and support through the desperation of the hug. 

“Thank you for bein’ honest with me,” Harley finally whispered, relishing in the sensation of Ivy tangling her arms around her torso eagerly, “Y’know I’d support you through anythin’. You’re my person, Ive. I’m never gonna give up on you, just like you ain’t given up on me.” 

The two held each other for what could have been an hour, threading fingers through soft hair and stalling the separation of their embrace for as long as they could. Somewhere within the passionate embrace tears were shed and kisses exchanged, but when the two women finally separated, both were smiling watery smiles. 

“There’s this place,” Harley started, brushing a knotted strain of red hair from Ivy’s tearry face, “It’s called Sanctuary. It’s a place for people like you and me to go if we are strugglin’ with bein’ a hero, or a ‘reformed villain’, in our case. Bats told me all ‘bout it. They can help you. An’ I can support you the whole time. Whaddaya say, Dandelion?” 

Ivy looked at her girlfriend tessellated perfectly in her lap. She caressed Harley’s cheeks and slowly nodded, wondering how she had gotten lucky enough to have such a wonderful and supportive woman fall in love with her. Knowing she’d do anything to mend their relationship, she smiled. 

“Let’s go to Sanctuary.” 

  
  



End file.
